any comments/suggestions/edits would be appreciated. Thanks!
Consider something in your life you think goes unnoticed and write about why it's important to you.
She stood there; her disheveled, curly, black hair was Velcro-ed to her torn winter jacket by her shoulders. Her eyes were growing exponentially, looking up at the "Christmas present" in my left hand, while her mother's eyes, congruently gazing, were focused on me. Moments later, my left hand was held by the young girl's mother as she thanked me ecstatically for providing her 6-year-old daughter with her first Christmas present of 2012. The "Christmas present" that I gave that young girl was a plastic Ziploc bag containing about 30 beads and a string. As the artificial snow fell and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" was belted throughout the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, I stood with the happiest woman in Boston.
My mom still doesn't know what size socks I wear, my aunt has given me a wrinkled twenty-dollar-bill for the past ten Christmases, and I have learned that buying a present for your high school girlfriend is no walk in the park. On the day that I volunteered for "Christmas in the City," which is a Christmas celebration by volunteers for families that are homeless or in shelters, I discovered the unnoticed and often unappreciated aspect of my life: my luck. I am often referred to as "Bad Luck Fish" by my friends for the seemingly unfortunate events occurring due to my clumsy, comical, lack of hand-eye coordination and awkwardness; in reality, I have it made. Experiencing that girl and her mother light up with joy over a bag of cheap arts and crafts materials shattered my perception on what it meant to be "lucky."
The happiest woman in Boston made me realize that spilling a two-dollar coffee all over my new khaki pants and the interior of my 2004 Toyota Camry is the least of my worries. I may be that kid who slips on black ice, but I am also that kid whose friends are there to share a laugh and help me up. What goes unnoticed in my life is not some secret skill that will shock my friends and family, nor is it a hidden lifestyle that I live; it is simply the fact that I can wake up every morning knowing that I will not fall asleep hungry; that when I arrive at school I will be pushed and supported by peers and teachers who genuinely care about my wellbeing; and that my opportunities to succeed will most likely not be restrained by obligations to support my family or survive. It is common for people to live a life with such luck going unnoticed. Luckily, on that day in Boston, I was given the bittersweet gift of serendipity, uncovering my fortunes, recognizing my impact on others, and discovering my role as a compassionate human being in this imperfect world.
